Metal Wedding Invitations
A metal invitation is a fabricated part, not a printed sheet: artwork is cut from stainless, brass or blackened steel at around 0.5mm, and the graphics are etched, engraved or screened rather than pressed. That changes the rules — no folds, no bleeds in the usual sense, square corners need rounding for safe handling, and the piece needs a rigid mailer. It is also the single most memorable object in a suite, which is why it usually appears as the invitation with the details and RSVP cards kept in paper.
What people actually ask
- Can wedding invitations be printed on metal?
- They can be made in metal — etched, engraved, laser cut or screen printed on stainless, brass or blackened steel. It is a fabrication process, so there is tooling and a longer lead time than paper.
- Do metal invitations need special postage?
- Yes. They are heavier and rigid, so they need a stiff mailer and usually a higher postage band. Most couples send metal for the invitation only and keep the rest of the suite in paper.
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By technique
A metal wedding invitation is a fabricated part, not a printed sheet. We cut the artwork from stainless, brass or blackened steel at around 0.5mm, then etch, engrave or screen the type into the surface. Nothing is pressed into fiber, so the piece behaves like hardware: it holds its shape, it has an edge, and it needs to be mailed in something rigid. We recommend it as the invitation itself and keep the details and RSVP cards in paper — that contrast is what makes the metal land.
The graphics go into the metal, not onto it
On paper, letterpress pushes ink and fiber down into a bite you can read with a fingertip. Metal works the other way. Etching removes material chemically so the type sits below the surface as a clean recess. Engraving cuts it mechanically, leaving a bright tooled edge. Screening lays opaque ink on top of the face for solid, high-contrast type without changing the surface.
Each one reads differently in the hand. Etched names catch a shadow. Engraved lines catch light. Screened white on blackened steel reads at arm's length like a sign. We pick the method by how heavy your type is and how the finished panel needs to be read.
No folds, no bleeds, and every corner gets rounded
Here is the part that surprises people who have only laid out paper suites. At 0.5mm, the panel does not fold — a folded metal invitation is a bent one, and it stays bent. So the design has to live on flat faces.
Bleeds work differently too. Color does not run off the edge of a cut part the way ink runs off a trimmed sheet; the edge is the raw metal, and that edge is honest.
Square corners on 0.5mm steel are sharp enough to catch a thumb and a mail sorter. We round them. It is a handling requirement, not a style choice, and we build it into the layout from the start.
Metal for the invitation, paper for everything else
A full metal suite sounds impressive and mails like a nightmare. Weight climbs, the envelope stops behaving, and every insert competes with the one object your guests were going to keep.
So we build one hero. The invitation goes in metal. Details, RSVP, accommodations and maps stay in paper, where they can fold, take a deckle edge, or run in a warm cotton stock that sets off the steel.
The metal panel then needs a rigid mailer — a stiff sleeve or backed pocket that keeps it flat and keeps the edges from working through. We plan the mailer alongside the invitation, never after it.
Common questions
Stainless, brass and blackened steel, each cut at around 0.5mm. Stainless reads cool and modern and takes etching cleanly. Brass reads warm and gold-toned. Blackened steel gives you the deepest contrast, especially with screened white or metallic type. Ask us for hand samples before you commit — these finishes photograph very differently than they feel.
Need the entire invitation suite drawn?
Invitation, RSVP, details and envelope composed for this stock and finish, with press-ready files for each piece.